Music sounds better live! Part II

After The Drowned World Tour, it took Madonna three years to go back on tour. When The Re-Invention Tour was announced in 2004, I was in the exact same situation as before - I still didn't have a credit card and with that, a way of buying tickets. I felt so frustrated when all I could do was watch all the shows sell out one after another, at the same time being unable to get that one ticket for myself. But then, miraculously and long after the tickets had gone out, I noticed that the show at Slane Castle in Ireland on August 29th hadn't sold out yet. In a fit of despair, I managed to convince my mum to let me use her credit card to buy tickets, and suddenly I found myself booked to go to Dublin for a week with my partner at the time. I was so, so excited, once again! Dublin had been on my list of places I wanted to go to for a long time so now I got to go there and see Madonna - a pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

The concert was at Slane Castle, meaning you had to take a bus there from Dublin. They had organised buses to take you to and from the show, which was highly appreciated as how else would you have managed to take yourself to the middle of nowhere where the castle is situated? I remember feeling all weird on the bus when it became clear that the show would take place in the countryside - Madonna, somewhere, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by sheep? A surreal idea!

We still had to walk a long way to the castle from where the buses dropped us off, and it was just lovely. We were there before the gates were opened, and when they were, everyone just rushed into the forest :D! Amazing, I loved it! It was raining while we were queueing and I was wondering how Madonna would be feeling about it - I know she's always panicking about it raining during her show and the stage being too slippery and thus unsafe for performing on. Later on when I watched I'm Going To Tell You A Secret, I found out that's exactly what she had been worried about. Luckily the rain stopped and the show went on - Madonna was very late but maybe it's understandable because of the weather. Anyway, we had general standing tickets and were quite close to the stage - not close enough to see Madonna's face properly apart from once during the show, but it was still the closest I'd got to the stage until then and I was excited. Oh, and Slane Castle was the perfect place for a big show like that - you have the stage, and then a beautiful castle up on a hill right behind you, moonlight and dozens of thousands of people camping out, all excited for Madonna. Precious!

This is another experience I don't remember that much of. I didn't have a camera with me as back then, I was still worried about security taking it away and always decided to play it safe by leaving it at the hostel. The show is a blur. I remember The Beast Within kicking the show off and going all kinds of crazy because it was so beautiful, and I was SO looking forward to Madonna making her entrance...and then Vogue, with amazing yoga-style choreography, Madonna looking absolutely stunning and her outfit being gorgeous...Burning Up was too good to be true! Usually, I hate it when Madonna tries to play the guitar as to me, she's a dancer and has to stay that way, but Burning Up was perfect for her guitar experiments! There's hardly any video material to be found of the Slane Castle show, but since it has to be posted in one form or another, here, have the Lisbon version...

The slow, jazzy version of Deeper And Deeper really impressed me, and so did Lament off Evita - Madonna's voice sounded just SO good, I was completely in awe! She usually doesn't sound too good live, which is why I don't mind her lip-synching to new studio recordings of the songs, but Lament, just WOW! But, my favourites were definitely Nothing Fails and Mother And Father. Just amazingly beautiful and went straight to my heart. During Nothing Fails it was raining again and a crew member had to hold a big, black umbrella up for Madonna...And then during Crazy For You, she thanked her fans for sticking with her through thick and thin...aaaaaaaaah, what a beautiful night!

A few videos: Papa Don't Preach because it's the only full video I found from Slane, and Mother and Father because it's one of my all-time favourite Madonna performances, even if this version is from Lisbon as well.

"I made a vow that I would never need another person ever, turned my heart into a cage, a victim of a kind of rage" <3

After the show, the dozens of thousands of people all left the castle at the same time. Now THAT was a hassle, I'm telling you! The walk back to the buses was LONG and we had to walk in complete darkness on muddy roads as it had been raining so much during the day and the show. I couldn't see a thing and I kept sinking into the mud :D. It took probably almost an hour till we were at the buses again and taken back to Dublin. When we got back to the hostel, we had to wash our shoes as they looked like clay sculptures by this point :D. It was all SO worth it, though :D!

Music sounds better live! Part I

I'm way too excited about Madonna going on tour again this summer and thought I should dedicate an entry to the Madonna tours I've had the pleasure to already experience and worship with my own eyes, ears and soul. While I'm at it, I'll also have to say a few words about the tours that I haven't actually seen live but that have nevertheless provided me with everlasting memories.

Now, if you read my previous entry on how I became a fan, you'll guess that my favourite Madonna tour of all time is Blond Ambition. It's the tour that I grew up watching, and for many years before I'd actually seen Madonna live, I'd go around saying that the greatest tragedy of my life was not being old enough to go and see Blond Ambition live. In 1990, I was just 8 years old and no one would ever have taken me to another country to see Madonna - that's simply not how things worked back then, plus I wasn't even a fan yet back in 1990. I still wish I'd been able to experience Blond Ambition because for me, it's the best a live show can possibly get, ever. The themes of the show are perfect, as are all the song choices and costumes; you've got Donna and Niki still touring with Madonna, and Madonna looks and is gorgeous in every way. I'm sorry but my words just aren't enough. Blond Ambition is perfect.

And then there was The Girlie Show in 1993. I was 11 and wanted to go. I saw an ad in the newspaper about a trip that some travel agency was organising - they'd take you to Germany to see a show and I obviously wanted to go. My mum wouldn't agree, and I had to give up on the idea. I was longing to go so badly but there was nothing I could do about it. The show in Germany was cancelled in the end anyway so I'd still have missed out even if I'd managed to convince my mum to book the trip. But! The good news was that they were at least going to broadcast the show live from Sydney, and my mum's boyfriend at the time had the channel where they were going to show it, so I made him tape it for me. Oh happy day! Except that that show was cancelled, too. I was so impatient and so worried about not getting my tape after all. But, they re-scheduled the show, or apparently actually showed the filmed version of the previous night's concert, and I did get to see it in the end! The concert was eventually shown over here at a time that I couldn't actually be by the TV, but, the following day, I went over to my mum's boyfriend's to collect the tape. I insisted we watch a couple of songs there and then...a choice I still regret to this very day :D! As the fans amongst you know, the show, accordingly to its title, starts with topless female strippers descending from the ceiling on poles....need I tell you more? I was not shocked, but I most definitely was very embarrassed since my mum and her boyfriend were there :D! I quickly demanded the video be stopped and given to me instead :D. I do love The Girlie Show, too - not as much as I love Blond Ambition, but a lot nevertheless. What's my favourite song? Why's It So Hard.

We had to wait for the next tour for a long, long time - 8 years, to be exact. When in 2001 it was announced that Madonna would go on tour, I was way too excited because I was finally 18 years old and could travel anywhere I wanted to. I'd even have money later on because after my matriculation exam, I'd start working as a telephone interviewer, and I'd also get a lot of money for graduating high school. So, I was all set. Except that I didn't have a credit card, and neither did anyone I knew. So, I just didn't have a way of getting a ticket since Madonna wasn't coming to Finland (Madonna in Finland? Please, it was never going to happen! Who would ever want to perform in Finland anyway?!?) and I'd need a credit card to be able to buy a ticket to a show in another country. But, one day when I came home from school, there was a note there, saying I had a registered letter waiting for me at the Post Office. I had no idea what it could be but I was too curious to not find out straight away, so off to the Post Office I went. They handed me a letter from my penpal in Madrid, Spain, and inside there were two tickets to see Madonna at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on June 9th 2001!!! I could not believe my eyes when I was holding the tickets in my hands!! I was going to Barcelona!! Again, I have no words for my happiness and excitement!! In the end, I went with my best friend and my Madonna fan penpal from Finland. There were two tickets in the envelope so only two of us would be going to the show, but when we arrived in Barcelona, we quickly noticed there were people on La Rambla selling tickets to the second show in Barcelona, too...We decided to put our pennies together and to not eat anymore during our trip and were able to afford three tickets to the show on June 10th as well. TOO EXCITING!!!!

I went to the first show with my penpal Johanna. The seats were crappy, way up high where you couldn't see anything at all, and the sound wasn't too good, either, but we were still extremely excited since it was our first Madonna experience ever. I was in ecstacy and basically shaking when the show started with Drowned World/Substitute For Love...I honestly don't remember much at all about my very first Madonna show. I remember the start and I remember Sky Fits Heaven because it was so impressive visually. See for yourself:

I'm really bad at describing my Madonna experiences because I'm in such a euphoric state of mind that it's all feelings that don't leave any space for words in my mind. But it was incredible, even from a nose-bleed distance. I remember calling my mum after the show and describing how amazing everything was to her in great detail, so I must have had something to say at one point :D.

The following day, I was even more excited because the seats were so much better! Okay, so we still couldn't see Madonna's face but we could see the whole show really well and were significantly closer to the stage than we were the previous night. Incredible! Madonna was there, in the same room with me, and I could see her dancing and singing there!! There is an audio recording of the second show where during Beautiful Stranger, you can actually hear me scream "MADONNNNAAAAAAAAA!!!" at the top of my lungs, heh :D. My favourites were Drowned World/Substitute For Love, Sky Fits Heaven, and Holiday - my first two times seeing Madonna, and she gave me Holiday, my most important live song that changed my life forever. I was so, so, so happy! You've guessed it - no words. I was singing and dancing the whole time and had the time of my life! When the show ended, the three of us walked down from Montjuïc and Palau Sant Jordi, singing Madonna songs in harmony and people cheered us and would open their car windows to sing along - magical!! I'll never forget that experience - the second time I saw Madonna was incredible!

One more thing: My Blond Ambition tape is her show from the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona - that's right next to Palau Sant Jordi. I think it's amazing I got to see Madonna for the first time so close to where the show I originally worshipped was filmed!

And here are some pictures! The first two are of me in 2001 before and after the shows, and the rest are from 2009 when I returned to Barcelona and re-visited Palau Sant Jordi and the Olympic Stadium to worship Blond Ambition.

Me on La Rambla.

And me, looking all crazy in our room after the second show :).

Me at the Olympic Stadium in 2009.

Me in front of Palau Sant Jordi.

Me showing you where we originally queued to get in back in 2001 :).

And an extra bonus live from Detroit: Holiday!

Blog Post #1, or How I Became a Fan.

I don't know why I haven't thought of starting a Madonna blog before. After all, she's been a hugely important part of who I am since I was just a kid! I'm celebrating my 20th anniversary as a fan in 2012, so what better way to show my appreciation and gratitude (and just how crazy a fan I am) than to start a blog that's completely devoted to worshipping Madonna?! I'm way too excited to start writing about all things Madonna because those are among the things that make me happiest and that also inspire me the most in my life. For me, Madonna means everything, and by that I don't mean just being a fan in general and loving everything she does, but also other things: Because of Madonna, I fell in love with the English language and became an English teacher. Because of Madonna, I learned to be open-minded and accepting of different people, and also found it easier to accept myself the way I am as a result. Because of Madonna, I've travelled to many amazing places in the world, and I fell in love with everything New York is about way back when. And because of Madonna's music, I've felt deeper feelings than you can possibly imagine. She's my source of inspiration, my teacher, and a kindred spirit, in addition to being my favourite singer and The Queen. I love her and have her under my skin and I'm so glad to have become a fan at such a young age!

It all started with this:

I was 9 years old and watching In Bed With Madonna, or Truth Or Dare, with my mum. She'd taped it off the TV, and I guess I just happened to be there since I don't remember planning to watch it with her or anything. Anyway, once Holiday (above, the exact same version) started playing, something happened inside me - I can't explain it, something simply changed in that moment and I haven't been the same since. It wasn't just "love at first sight", either, because I simply became a completely different person inside. It was just incredible how much I loved Holiday there and then and how in awe of Madonna I was. I hate to admit it, but prior to that, I'd found her incredibly annoying and hadn't liked her at all. Certainly not how I felt after watching In Bed With Madonna! After that, I spent hours and hours watching the film, and we also had Blond Ambition live from Barcelona on video, which I watched over and over again, every day. I'd always done A LOT of singing, too, but after falling in love with Madonna, singing became an obsession because I just wanted to live those songs and deliver them myself, too. I sang them in the shower, while watching Blond Ambition, under my blanket at night before falling asleep, I taped myself singing; I listened hard for the right lyrics (since I'm not a native speaker and was just 9 years old, most of my misheard versions of the lyrics were insane :D!)...Anyway, we watched In Bed With over the weekend, and when I went to school on Monday, I said to my best friend, "Guess what happened to me over the weekend?" and she replied, "You've become a Madonna fan!!!!". I don't get it!! How the hell did she decide to say that?!? We had NEVER even talked about Madonna before! It was all very mysterious.

I had to be a closeted fan at first since my dad hated Madonna and thought she was a slut and whatnot. I thought his opinions were horrible and insulting but was too scared to stand up for Madonna (and myself). I got my first Madonna cassette at Christmas 1992 (Like A Prayer) and remember guessing what was inside from the shape of the present - I tore off a tiny bit of the wrapping paper, saw what it was, and went to my room to hide the tape in my desk drawer. I was SO happy, though! It was the best Christmas present I got that year! Luckily, my parents didn't live together anymore so after my dad had gone home after Christmas, I finally got to listen to Like A Prayer. I loved it! I still love the same songs off it that I first fell in love with back then, which would be Till Death Do Us Part, Promise To Try, Cherish, Oh Father and Keep It Together. It was amazing to own an actual Madonna album - till I got the cassette, I'd been listening to tapes I'd made by recording songs off the TV with my boombox. I'd put Blond Ambition on, be really quiet and tape the songs so I could listen to them in my room without having to watch the videos whenever I wanted to hear Madonna's voice, which was all the time. Anyway, I was still somewhat embarrassed of listening to Madonna so I preferred it if no one was at home when I was listening to my tapes in my room. Though that quickly changed - I don't know how my mum and my sister never had any complaints!

To this date, I remember where I first heard all of my favourite Madonna songs. I love everything she does in some way, but the 1980s and the early 1990s are my favourite Madonna era by far.

And from Blond Ambition to Super Bowl 2012 - I feel like I've come a full circle today when I watched her halftime performance from last night. 

What an amazing, amazing performance! The Queen is here, and like a friend of mine put it, Madonna really only needs 12 minutes to show everyone why she is the Queen of Pop. I can't wait to celebrate my 20 years as a fan with a new album and an incredible tour, which will hopefully have elements of the past like I felt the Super Bowl show had. Bring it all on, I'm waiting!